Former Nevada Assembly Majority Leader Teresa Benitez-Thompson won the Democratic primary for the state’s 2nd Congressional District on Tuesday, giving the party a serious candidate in its attempt to flip the red seat.

The northern Nevada district is currently represented by GOP Rep. Mark Amodei, whose retirement prompted crowded primaries on both sides. It encompasses Reno as well as numerous rural “cow counties” and was won by President Donald Trump by 14 points and 11 points the last two elections. The district has never been represented by a Democrat.

But Democrats are hopeful that this is the kind of seat that could become competitive in a large enough blue wave, as Nevada struggles under the weight of Trump’s economic agenda.

Beneitez-Thompson beat out seven Democrats in the primary, who mostly cast themselves as antagonists to Republicans in Washington and vowed to work to decrease high costs of living that have hit Nevadans particularly hard.

She served a decade in the state Assembly, finishing as majority leader. After she was term-limited in 2024, she worked as chief of state for Attorney General Aaron Ford, who is running to challenge GOP Gov. Joe Lombardo. Before entering politics, Benitez-Thompson worked as a social worker and funded her college education with beauty pageant scholarships.

During the primary, she earned the influential endorsement of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters for her vow to repeal right-to-work laws. She has also spoken out against federal funding cuts under the Trump administration that she says have harmed rural communities, like the U.S. Forest Service scaling back its presence in Nevada.

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